1. Field of the Invention
The field relates generally to pick mechanisms for media input feed systems for an image forming device (“IFD”) having a removable input tray, and, in particular, to latching mechanism used with removable pick mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
IFDs, such as printers, scanners and photocopiers utilize media feed mechanisms for feeding various types of media sheets into the IFDs. Examples of the various types of media sheets include, but are not limited to, printing paper, bond paper, coated paper, fabrics, transparencies and labels. Almost all of the media feed mechanisms include a pick mechanism having one or more pick wheels for feeding a media sheet into the IFD for further processing. In a media feed mechanism, various arrangements of the pick mechanism may exist for feeding the media sheet into the IFD.
In one such arrangement of a media feed mechanism, the pick wheel may be coupled with other components of the media feed mechanism to exert a normal force on the media sheet. Examples of the other components that may be coupled to the pick wheel include motors, solenoids, cams, pick arms, gears, shafts, and the like. The pick wheel pushes the media sheet into the IFD due to friction between the pick wheels and the media sheet. Herein, pushing the media sheet into the IFD refers to pushing the media sheet in a media process direction into a specific section of the IFD, for example, pushing the media sheet into a ‘printing zone’ where the IFD is a printer.
Over time the pick wheels wear and require replacement. This is usually done by replacing the pick mechanism. Conventional pick mechanisms are usually mounted over the media in a removable media input tray (RMIT) or over a multipurpose media input tray on one or more steel rods that extend between the sides of the media tray and that require tools and partial disassembly to be removed. With such mounting arrangements, it is difficult to remove or repair the pick mechanism and usually requires the intervention of a skilled technician. Removable pick mechanisms may be mounted to a drive shaft extending from one side of a media tray. In such situations, the removable pick mechanism is slid on to the free end of the drive shaft and a latch is engaged with the drive shaft to hold the pick mechanism in place. With this mounting arrangement, the pick mechanism can be more readily removed. One such latch assembly is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 8,371,572 B2, entitled “Detachable Reversible Pick Mechanism For Feeding Media From a Media Tray Of An Imaging Forming Device”, issued Feb. 12, 2013, and assigned to the assignee of the present disclosure. There, to remove the pick mechanism from its mounting shaft, the latch assembly requires that two latch arms be pinched together and, while being pinched together, slid off the free end of the shaft. The release force there is being applied transversely to the rotation axis of the mounting shaft. One drawback with such a latch is that it is difficult for a user to know when the latch has released from the shaft. Further, because there is usually little free space about the pick mechanism, it may be difficult to reach in a pinch the latch arms together while simultaneously trying to slide the pick mechanism off of the drive shaft. It would be advantageous to have a latch assembly that may be operated to release the pick mechanism from the shaft by applying the release force parallel to the mounting shaft and then continuing to slide the pick mechanism off of its mounting shaft. It would also be advantageous to avoid having to apply the latch assembly release force transverse to the removal direction of the pick mechanism.